Information and Instructions for Writing an Abstract I. What is an Abstract?
An abstract is a brief version of a longer piece of writing that emphasizes the major points and describes the content of the writing.
II. A Descriptive Abstract: Tells readers what information is contained in the longer paper. Includes the purpose of the paper. Does not provide the conclusions or results given in the paper. Introduces the subject to the reader who will then read the longer paper to find out the details.
III. Qualities of a Good Abstract: Uses one or more concise paragraphs in introduction/body/conclusion format Adds no new information, but simply summarizes the report Can be easily understood by any audience Is generally short, about 10% the size of the paper itself
IV. Steps for Writing an Abstract:
1. Reread the paper looking for the main points emphasized and the manner in which it was written (chronologically, level of importance, cause and effect, etc.)
2. Approach the abstract in the same format but do not copy complete phrases or sentences from the original.
3. State the key questions you sought to answer in your research, but not the answers you found.
EXAMPLE: This paper aims to analyze to what extent the ancient Greek novel of love and adventure can be seen as a utopian genre. The concept of utopia is both
ambiguous and ambivalent. To some, utopia is an ideal worth fighting for andattaining, a beneficial and freeing principle conducive to happiness. To others,however, it has a negative connotation, that is, it means something impossible toattain and achieve, like a dream or a chimera. Utopia is also an intrinsicallydialectic entity. It has a positive side, which corresponds to a perfect society, anda negative one, which identifies itself with a closed and totalitarian universe. Theaim in this paper is, obviously, strictly literary. The literary utopia is a form ofsublimation, a recreation of the real world. Therefore, it is an intellectual, acultural and an elitist phenomenon. Fiction is utopia’s preferred mode of artisticpresentation. Utopia is a literary genre (or rather, more precisely, a subgenre),be it fiction or a political society in real life. It distinguishes itself as a genre thatprovides a mythical description of the ideal city. But, alongside the utopian genre,there is also a utopian mode, known as utopianism. Whereas the utopian genre isconstructive and objective, and aims to create a certain type of society, theutopian mode limits itself to utopian aspiration and to the mere allusion to idealelements. Utopianism can then be defined as a tendency to utopia and thereforeas an aspiration to happiness.The ancient Greek novel of love and adventure displays both features of utopianism and utopia: Utopianism, in the sense that the universe it depicts partly supersedes realityand consequently appears to be an ideal almost impossible to attain. Theutopian component becomes apparent through the use of some recurrentfeatures or topics, such as the characters’ idealized beauty, the unfailingdefence of chastity, the attempt at spiritual selfimprovement, evidentespecially in Heliodorus’ Aethiopics, and the customary happy ending.Utopia, in the sense that it crystallizes the utopian spirit or utopianism. Infiction, this crystallization takes shape through the achievement of a perfectand paradigmatic society as, for example, the one described in the last part ofHeliodorus’ Aethiopica, considered by some authors as the model for a politicalutopia. Utopia, as topos , is the myth of the ideal city, projected in the presentand into the future, and symmetrical with another myth, that of the ancientgolden age and lost paradise. Therefore, it sometimes retrieves andincorporates elements from past times almost turned into myth with thepassing of the years. Such is Chariton’s case, who retrieved and idealized thelost world of the polis’ autonomous state. Utopia and reality can be allegorical and symbolic of each other. Reality issometimes depicted as a stylized utopia which thus becomes an allegory or asymbol of a certain reality. Greek novels are connected with the reality of theirtime in many different ways. But there are other forms of bringing the ideal andthe real closer together. There are cases where the real is boosted by the ideal,so to speak. Utopia is not only a dream; it aims to be a flagship and atransforming agent of reality. Does the Greek novel of love and adventure displayor not this controversial side of utopia? This paper will also attempt to answerthis question.
Kilborn, Judith. Purdue University. http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/bizwrite/abstracts.html. 2/6/09__www.ican2008.ul.pt/ICAN2008_en/How_to_contribute/**abstract**_sample.pdf__. 2/6/09
I. What is an Abstract?
An abstract is a brief version of a longer piece of writing that emphasizes the major points and describes the content of the writing.
II. A Descriptive Abstract:
Tells readers what information is contained in the longer paper.
Includes the purpose of the paper.
Does not provide the conclusions or results given in the paper.
Introduces the subject to the reader who will then read the longer paper to find out the details.
III. Qualities of a Good Abstract:
Uses one or more concise paragraphs in introduction/body/conclusion format
Adds no new information, but simply summarizes the report
Can be easily understood by any audience
Is generally short, about 10% the size of the paper itself
IV. Steps for Writing an Abstract:
1. Reread the paper looking for the main points emphasized and the manner in which it was written (chronologically, level of importance, cause and effect, etc.)
2. Approach the abstract in the same format but do not copy complete phrases or sentences from the original.
3. State the key questions you sought to answer in your research, but not the answers you found.
EXAMPLE:
This paper aims to analyze to what extent the ancient Greek novel of love and
adventure can be seen as a utopian genre. The concept of utopia is both
ambiguous and ambivalent. To some, utopia is an ideal worth fighting for andattaining, a beneficial and freeing principle conducive to happiness. To others,however, it has a negative connotation, that is, it means something impossible toattain and achieve, like a dream or a chimera. Utopia is also an intrinsicallydialectic entity. It has a positive side, which corresponds to a perfect society, anda negative one, which identifies itself with a closed and totalitarian universe. Theaim in this paper is, obviously, strictly literary. The literary utopia is a form ofsublimation, a recreation of the real world. Therefore, it is an intellectual, acultural and an elitist phenomenon. Fiction is utopia’s preferred mode of artisticpresentation. Utopia is a literary genre (or rather, more precisely, a subgenre),be it fiction or a political society in real life. It distinguishes itself as a genre thatprovides a mythical description of the ideal city. But, alongside the utopian genre,there is also a utopian mode, known as utopianism. Whereas the utopian genre isconstructive and objective, and aims to create a certain type of society, theutopian mode limits itself to utopian aspiration and to the mere allusion to idealelements. Utopianism can then be defined as a tendency to utopia and thereforeas an aspiration to happiness.The ancient Greek novel of love and adventure displays both features of utopianism and utopia: Utopianism, in the sense that the universe it depicts partly supersedes realityand consequently appears to be an ideal almost impossible to attain. Theutopian component becomes apparent through the use of some recurrentfeatures or topics, such as the characters’ idealized beauty, the unfailingdefence of chastity, the attempt at spiritual selfimprovement, evidentespecially in Heliodorus’ Aethiopics, and the customary happy ending.Utopia, in the sense that it crystallizes the utopian spirit or utopianism. Infiction, this crystallization takes shape through the achievement of a perfectand paradigmatic society as, for example, the one described in the last part ofHeliodorus’ Aethiopica, considered by some authors as the model for a politicalutopia. Utopia, as topos , is the myth of the ideal city, projected in the presentand into the future, and symmetrical with another myth, that of the ancientgolden age and lost paradise. Therefore, it sometimes retrieves andincorporates elements from past times almost turned into myth with thepassing of the years. Such is Chariton’s case, who retrieved and idealized thelost world of the polis’ autonomous state. Utopia and reality can be allegorical and symbolic of each other. Reality issometimes depicted as a stylized utopia which thus becomes an allegory or asymbol of a certain reality. Greek novels are connected with the reality of theirtime in many different ways. But there are other forms of bringing the ideal andthe real closer together. There are cases where the real is boosted by the ideal,so to speak. Utopia is not only a dream; it aims to be a flagship and atransforming agent of reality. Does the Greek novel of love and adventure displayor not this controversial side of utopia? This paper will also attempt to answerthis question.
Kilborn, Judith. Purdue University. http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/bizwrite/abstracts.html. 2/6/09__www.ican2008.ul.pt/ICAN2008_en/How_to_contribute/**abstract**_sample.pdf__. 2/6/09